Cygnus

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Posts by Cygnus

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  20

  JWs and Red Cross

  by twinflame in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  sorry to pose this question if it is here on the board somewhere.

  i have been sifting for hours and even though i've found lots of great information, i can't find what i am looking for.. motivated by the hurricane tragedies, i decided to become a red cross volunteer on a local level.

  i had my first training on saturday and came away feeling very good about my decision.

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  Cygnus

  Of course, the WTS speaks out of both sides of its mouth all the time.

  Blondie! How dare you make such a blashphemous accusation!

  *** w98 12/15 p. 32 Will You Heed the Warning? ***

  Jehovah’s Witnesses are not prophets of doom. Theirs is a message of hope. They desire to help people learn about God’s Kingdom, which will soon rid the earth of all unrighteousness.

  *** w61 12/1 p. 725 United Against Nations in the Valley of Decision ***

  Dark indeed will be the period, both day and night, when Jehovah as Judge causes his judicial decision to be executed upon the nations who have been gathered together for being crushed out of existence. From his heavenly habitation, Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, he roars with a battle shout loud enough to set heaven and earth rocking at the shock waves. . . SQUASH! The treading of the nations, including Christendom, begins. . . Never before in all human history will so many human creatures have been slaughtered. Blood, as representing human lives poured out, will run deep and over a vast distance.
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  9

  Erratic jw dogma virtue or vice?

  by greendawn in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the jw dogma makers have tacitly admitted that numerous of their interpretations of the bible are erroneous, by bringing in new ones to replace the previous.

  in fact they keep shifting their positions on most issues over the 130 years of their existence.

  they try to present this as a kind of virtue: they admit their errors and humbly change them.

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  Cygnus

  There are tons of examples in the Bible where God's servants and prophets goofed up and needed correction, or corrected themselves. So it is today with God's modern-day prophet organization.
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  27

  Watching an addicted brain is fun! (quitting smoking)

  by AlmostAtheist in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so i'm quitting smoking.

  it's no biggee, i've done it before... .

  no seriously, i smoked my last one at lunch.

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  Cygnus

  Some days I smoke only 2 or 3. Others, I can do 2 packs. From my heart operation I brought home a Voldyne 5000 pulminary/lung capacity testing device. I'm still hitting BEST, so the occasional cancer stick isn't bothering my conscience.
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  4

  Question about Hebrew...

  by _Atlas in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  question about hebrew:.

  serendipity led me towards lamentations 3:38. the nwt renders this passage as follows:.

  38 from the mouth of the most high bad things and what is good do not go forth.. most others translations render this as what it seems like a rhetoric question along with verse 37 & 39. since this alters the understanding of the passage, when does the use of question marks is warranted in hebrew?

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  Cygnus

  I would hazard a guess and say it's at the discretion of the translator. Vs 33 in the NJB says "for it is not for his own pleasure that he torments and grieves the human race." That's fine and dandy but I can't see giving reverance to a god like that if he's capable of killing 186,000 Assyrian warmen in one night so his people can get away.

  Remember the text in Isaiah I believe that attributes both good and evil to Yahweh. Then there is this threat:

  ***

  Rbi8 Joshua 23:15 ***

  And it must occur that, just as all the good word that Jehovah YOUR God has spoken to YOU has come upon YOU, so Jehovah will bring upon YOU all the evil word until he has annihilated YOU from off this good ground that Jehovah YOUR God has given YOU

  Watchtowerism has Jehovah holding all the cards. he is the Universal Sovereign and there is no need for rhetorical questions. I guess that's the best I can come up with right now. Leolaia?
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  22

  BEFORE me there were no other Gods - what does this really mean?

  by truthseeker in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  is the verse below saying that god has not always existed?.

  10 "you are my witnesses," declares the lord, .

  "and my servant whom i have chosen, .

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  Cygnus

  Since the evidence indicates that passage/poem was written and influeced around the theistic Babylonian culture, YHWH was a compilation of many gods, and was just finding its own unique identity, maybe the author had that intention. Who knows?
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  34

  Is Katrina just a precursor of things to come?

  by zagor in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if damage from one storm is going to cost, as they say, over a hundred billon dollars what would happen if we have another storm like that one, and another, and another, and another....

  i mean prices of fuel have jumped to record high all over the world as result of one storm, how bad can it get really?

  just this simple analysis would tell me that in a year or two of such hammering economy of the entire world could collapse.

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  Cygnus

  This kind of stuff is way over my head. I am merely concerned with how to keep my walkway free of snow this winter.
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  18

  easy proof jw's are on the decline

  by ackack in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in canada, at least, there is a trend that more and more seats are being reserved for the elderly.

  first it started with the ice level.

  then the first two rows around the ice level.

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  Cygnus

  My last experience with Toronto was a very good one. A buddy and I purchased tickets to watch a Maple Leafs game and while the weather and wind was bitterly cold, I was impressed by how clean downtown was. Not even a cigarette butt on the sidewalks. Even the beggers and streetpeople were organized and well-presented.
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  3

  Life is tough, be nice to everyone

  by Cygnus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i went shopping last night around 1 in the morning and the late-night crew did all they could to assist me, and they were so nice.

  it brings my heart great cheer when strangers show empathy and kindnss, and more so when acquaintances do the same.

  i had a very nice phone call with almostatheist last night and he obliged me by letting me ramble on, and i thank him for letting my big mouth blather and blather.

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  Cygnus

  I went shopping last night around 1 in the morning and the late-night crew did all they could to assist me, and they were so nice. It brings my heart great cheer when strangers show empathy and kindnss, and more so when acquaintances do the same. I had a very nice phone call with AlmostAtheist last night and he obliged me by letting me ramble on, and I thank him for letting my big mouth blather and blather. I dunno, I guess I'm being a softie today, but life is made so much more precious when genuine love, compassion, and empathy is shared with good motives. Thanks for hearing me out. I love you all. :)
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  79

  Why have you rejected all forms of faith?

  by AlmostAtheist in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it seems that when a person leaves jw's, there's just no telling where he'll end up spiritually.

  christian, jew, pagan, jamesthomasism -- i dare say every faith is represented among us.. but there are those that reject faith altogether.

  they are often accused of letting the watchtower steal god from them, or throwing the baby out with the bath.. are you one those that rejected faith altogether after your exit?

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  Cygnus

  I have faith in the human spirit that seeks truth no matter how pleasant or ugly. I have faith that my doctors care about me and try to help me. I have faith that my love and I will live out our lives together when things are made possible. I have faith that the medical profession will eventually find ways to extend, sustain, and improve our lives and bodies beyond 70-80 years, I have no faith that any gods or supernatural causes will have anything to do with these things, and if people are honest, like I said in another thread, they don't really believe any gods interfere either. We live our lives under the assumption that we're in control, not Zeus or Hey-Zeus from above.
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  35

  do you believe this part of the bible

  by joanne_ in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  do you think god's original purpose was for us to live forever on earth?

  and if so, why has it not happened yet?

  joanne

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  Cygnus

  When I left the JWs, I did. I visited a CoG (Abrahamic Faith) that taught that the Christian promise was life on the land/earth, and not that anybody would turn into something non-human and live anywhere other than this planet. I still think, if taking the Bible literally, it teaches that.

  It hasn't happened yet for the same reason Jesus hasn't returned - it's not true and never will be.